Contents

• Biographical Information
• Affiliations
• Current Projects
• Meet Tiko
• Behavioral Biology 2012- Syllabus/Project Grading
• Services
• Publications
• Contact Information
• People in her lab

Biographical Information

    Joanna Burger is a behavioral ecologist whose primary interests are in the adaptive significance of social behavior in vertebrates, the effects of incubation temperature on behavioral development in snakes, the effects of heavy metals on neurobehavioral development in birds, ecological risk, biomonitoring, and the effects of chemicals on humans and other biota.   In the area of social behavior she works mainly with marine and coastal birds, including the effects of people on reproductive success and ecology of colonial species. The work on reptiles involves examining how the behavior of snakes is influenced by incubation temperature, including locomotion, anti-predator behavior, foraging, and over-wintering.

    For several years she has been examining patterns of heavy metal distribution worldwide, using avian feathers as indicators. This ongoing work involves examining the effects of low level lead, chromium and manganese exposure (similar to what children get when they eat lead paint) on behavior development of Herring Gulls, both in the field and in the laboratory. Her work with ecological risk assessment has included many different species and habitats. Some of her work involves using the Department of Energy as a case study to examine ecological health, ecological risk, and species protection. She is currently working at the Department of Energy’s sites, including Hanford, Los Alamos, Idaho National Laboratory, Brookhaven, Amchitka and the Savannah River Site, developing ecological risk methodologies. She sat on the U.S. National SCOPE Committee, is on the National Academy of Sciences Committee of Endocrine Disruptors, and has participated in several international SCOPE committees on ecological risk, mercury, and hazardous wastes. She is a fellow of the  American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Ornithologist's Union,  and of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. She holds an honorary PhD from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. She received the Distinguished Achievement from the Society of Risk Analysis. Most recently in 2009 she received the Brewster Medal from the American Ornithological Union.

Affiliations

	DIVISION OF LIFE SCIENCES Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources Cell, Developmental, and Neural Biology
	EOHSI, the Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences Institute
	IMCS, the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences
	Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolution  Joanna Burger , Ph.D., Minnesota. Avian behavior and ecology; salt marsh ecology; reptile behavior; behavioral effects of heavy metals.
	The Joint Graduate Program in Toxicology (JGPT) is an inter-university, inter-departmental program designed to train students in the discipline of toxicology. The JGPT was established in 1980 and operates under standing bylaws approved by its faculty. The participating universities are Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (UMDNJ-RWJMS).
	The Center for Urban Restoration Ecology The mission is to restore and enhance the ecological integrity of degraded public lands in various ways... Joanna Burger: "Restoration of Avian Habitat in Urban/Suburban and Coastal Habitats." N.J. Department of Environmental Protection. "Factors Affecting Neotropical Migrant Diversity in NE Urban Areas." U.S. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Foundation.

Current Projects

Avian Studies In Barnegat Bay

Barnegat Bay supports some of the largest and most diverse breeding colonies of birds in the state, as well as along the Atlantic coast. Since 1976 we have been examining colony location, population dynamics reproductive success, and heavy metals in Common Terns, Black Skimmers and other species. We are also studying the effects of motorboats and personal watercraft (PWCs) on nesting Common Terns and Skimmers. A long-term study with PWCs indicated that continuous educational campaigns, law enforcement,  and regulations to keep PWCs from near nesting Common Terns was essential to prevent undue disturbance that resulted in shifting nest sites, abandoning colonies, and lowered reproductive success.  She is also examining the effects of sea level rise on nesting birds.          

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Habitat Use and Foraging Behavior of Birds

        Point counts and behavioral observations were used to examine habitat use and prey choice by Forster’s   Terns, Black Skimmers, Common Terns and shorebirds in Barnegat Bay for the Trust for Public Lands.

Snake Hibernation Behavior

        Pine Snakes, threatened in New Jersey, breed in the Pine Barrens, dig their own nests, and over-winter in  hibernacula they dig or modify. Since 1986, I have been following marked individuals in hibernacua. Some snakes have been found for 18 of the last 21 years. Previous records for longevity in wild Pine Snakes (or their conspecifics elsewhere) have been only about 15 years, but there are no other similar studies that span the length of our study in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. The snakes move from hibernation site to hibernacula, but sometimes return in later years to a given one.    

NEW BOOK AT PRESS

 SELECTED PUBLICATIONS   

Fishing, Fish Consumption and Risk

        Fishing is a popular pastime and provides both recreation and fish for consumption.  She has been investigating the reasons why people fish, fish consumption patterns, contaminants in fish, and the resultant risks and benefits. She is particularly interested in providing people with sufficient information to make their risk-based decisions.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Risk to Organisms From Mercury

There is an abundance of field data on levels of mercury in a variety of organisms and tissues, and there are a number of studies that demonstrate the effects of mercury on laboratory animals, but few studies examine the relationship between the two. Long term studies on mercury levels in Common Terns (1970-present) include spatial components in NJ and elsewhere. Research has included studies of the Exxon Spill in the Arthur Kill, along the Atlantic coast, and in Delaware Bay.

Ecological Risk and Bioindicators

        One of my overall interests has been ecological risk in urban environments, the Jersey Shore, and at DOE sites. Developing bioindicators is critical to assessing ecological health determining remediation and restorations, evaluating restoration, and determining risk.  Since there are literally millions of individual species in ecosystems, it is critical be able to find species that will indicate something about the health and well-being of ecosystems. Often these are top-level predators within their systems, such as Pine Snakes, sharks, seabirds, raptors, or wolves. However, they can also be species that are particularly at risk, such as bottom dwelling fish in environments where the sediment at the bottoms of lakes or rivers are polluted.                                 

 SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
 

CRESP (Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation)

CRESP is an independent university consortium to develop information and methods of analysis and prediction that will support the decision-makers involved in managing the decommissioning and cleanup of American nuclear weapons production facilities. It will provide the U. S. Department Of Energy with a broader and deeper understanding of risk-related issues that concern waste cleanup. For general information on CRESP click here.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

 Science and Stakeholders

Scientists and a range of stakeholders have come to realize that sound environmental decisions and management require involvement of a range of people.  Involvement does not just mean one-way communication, or even two-way communication, but a collaborative effort between the decision-makers and others.  Collaboration can include involvement in defining the problem, gathering relevant information, deciding what new information needs to be gathered, obtaining that information, and making environmental and management decisions.  Stakeholders in such a process include federal, state and local governmental agencies, Tribal Nations, conservation groups, user groups, industry, and other interested and affected parties.  These issues are discussed further in several papers and an upcoming book:  Stakeholders and Scientists: Achieving Implementable Solutions to Energy and Environmental Issues (Springer, NY, NY, due out in July/August 2011). 

Amchitka and Aleutian studies

Since 2000 I have been working on examining metal and radionuclide levels in algae, invertebrates, fish and birds on Amchitka, Kiska, Adak and other Aleutian Islands. Much of this work was part of CRESP to examine the potential risk from radionuclide exposure from three underground nuclear test sites (1965-1971). In addition to radionuclide's, we also examined levels of mercury and other metals in subsistence foods.

Melding Western And Aleut Science To Understand Possible Radiation Risk To Marine Animals At Amchitka

AMCHITKA STAKEHOLDER QUESTIONS

PUBLICATIONS LIST for AMCHITKA WORK

New Jersey Oil Spill

Oil spills are a potential threat to the environment along the Jersey shore because both the New York harbor and Delaware are major oil import and export regions.  

Herring Gull Lead Toxicity

Animals, including humans, are increasingly exposed to a variety of environmental chemicals that can cause adverse developmental neurobehavioral effects. We've been examining the effect of lead and other contaminants of behavioral development of young.

Behavior of Parrots & TIKO

            Parrots are the most highly endangered group of birds, are long-lived, and are highly intelligent.  I have been interested in the social behavior of parrots , including nesting behavior, foraging, behavior at clay licks, and aggressive interactions. My research interests run in parallel with an interest in companion parrots, and in education about companion parrots and urban parrots. The Parrot who Owns Me (Random House) is a story about developing a relationship with a parrot, including why parrots behave as they do. 

Teaching: BEHAVIOR BIOLOGY

This course is taught every year. For course outline and project click HERE

Services

Service to the University, State, Nation, and World is extremely important. Joanna Burger is involved in committees at the University, State ( i.e., Governor's non-game Council  since 1978) National (for NRC, EPA, US Fish and Wildlife Service, DOE) and World  ( e.g. SCOPE) She is on several editorial boards, and is a consultant to industry, conservation organizations and state and federal agencies.

She has served on several committees, as well as being Co-chair of the International  Meeting of Endocrine Disruption.

  Founding Member 

  She has served as a member of the Endangered and Nongame Advisory Committee since 1978.

She was Director for Chemical Analysis for 15 years and is now Co-Director of the Center for Outreach and Education.

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 Click here to see all of Dr. Burgers Publications

Books for the Public:

...OTHER BOOKS BY J. BURGER

Contact Information

 email address burger@biology.rutgers.edu

FAX : (732)-445-5870

People in her labs

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		The National Academy of Sciences

Last revised by Taryn Pittfield 12/2011